Could I please have some advice on specs of this laptop

Well here we go again another day.My PC engineer has come up with three new laptops two with touch screens and only one with no touch.
Here are the details of the one that he is offered me for a good price.
Could I please have some advice on the specs of this laptop Please.
Many Thanks.


Thank You.

This looks like a nice laptop if you do not mind having a low resolution.

Good work, general use laptop. What are you planning to do with it?

This must have gotten moved from the other thread?

Since you're new here, I should let you know that I'm a big proponent of the new Modern/Metro, touch-centric (works well with keyboard and mouse), and so many other attributes to the "new" system, so I'll be slightly slanted towards that. Here's basically where I'm at with it. This was early on: http://www.eightforums.com/general-support/16379-real-quality-boot-time-8-verses-7-a.html

We all have our different needs and use systems according to those needs. We all have a price range also. Nevermind the OS for now. To me "versatility" seems to be the buzz word today when it comes to hardware. It is getting quite miniature and powerful at the same time. I'll assume you travel or at least desire to be mobile since you're considering a laptop. You may want to take the time to read through this thread: http://www.eightforums.com/windows-8-news/46666-microsoft-surface-pro-3-announcement.html

Hardware wise:

Chipset: Depending on what you're using this laptop for, the i7 seems to be an overkill. That's a pretty powerful chip. A lot depends on how much you need and savings on a lower one.

OS: 8 is outdated. Why not go with 8.1 64-bit? What edition is offered is another consideration.

Screen: All a matter of personal choice in needs of size and resolution. Is this a touch? Personally since 8.x is touch-centric I would want one. Much quicker navigation with 8.x.

RAM: More than enough for 8.x. I'm running fine with 2GBs on this old Acer. 50 to 60% on average, although there are a few times it runs up to 100%, but then again I have too much open for the rig to handle.

Optical Drive: This is state of the art. Consider read/write speeds.

Graphics: Need to ask yourself if this is sufficient. Will you be gaming? Video rendering? What else might you be doing to need more? Will it be powerful enough for exterior monitor?

The rest looks good, except the VGA Port is probably outdated unless you have a monitor with that.

Hope that helps a little. Best thing I know is to create an Excel spreadsheet with columns of peripherals and prices to compare different systems so to make an intelligent choice.

Popeye.Thanks for the good news,As you said just general work no gaming nor video editing.

HippsieGipsey.Thanks for your reply,All that got me a bit confused as I'm not very techy not had pc very long and learning well from forums like this.
210.Thanks also could you please be a little more specific on what you said Please.

This looks like a nice laptop if you do not mind having a low resolution.

Click to expand...

Thanks all Would you say that £500.00 would be a fair price??

Thank You

What model exactly? Easy to do a price comparison on the net.

Resolution is basically the detail of the screen. That resolution on a 15.6" screen isn't that bad, I've had a laptop with that before. Depends what you are used too and hard core gamers wouldn't like it. Will you be doing graphics projects with it or anything that needs very fine detail?

I would buy a 120GB SSD to run the OS on and install the hard drive in an external USB3 enclosure so you can store your data on it.

Ok. I understand.

That's about $680 USD. Not a bad price for "Good work, general use laptop" as Popeye stated.

I'd ask for 8.1 64-bit with update 1, since it's the latest released OS. I would also try to get Pro edition. That depends on your usage. Go to the Windows site of your country. There will be a "Compare Windows Editions" link so to compare and decide what fits your needs

I'd ask for repair discs or at least a repair/restore partition. Discs are best. Very important and handy to have. You will not be able to download an ISO since it will be an OEM key as per Brink's tutorial here: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/18309-windows-8-windows-8-1-iso-download-create.html

I'd advise to follow azasadny's advice on HDs. The SSD (Solid State Drive) are quicker, more reliable, and less battery consumption. At least a large thumb drive that's passworded and possibly encrypted to store your personal data on in case of loss or theft, even though there's a Kensington lock slot

You may want to consider MS Office if you use that. Windows Media Player is another, although I think that's about $10 or $15 USD extra.

If and when you get it, I'd be stripping out any OEM bloatware starting with antivirus. Windows Defender is far more system resource efficient and it's reliable. Bloatware is OEM programs that you'll probably never use. You can post another thread with help on that if need be.

As I stated earlier, a touch screen would be handy.

Good luck with your purchase and, again, welcome.

Great advice HippsieGypsie! :thumb:

great suggestions ,but, with everything you add ,the price goes crazy

Hi,Just to keep you up to date with the laptop in question.
I will be having delivery on Wednesday.And yes I will be installing Office 2010.
Many Thanks.May be back soon with a new post.:thumb:

Thanks for keeping up with this.